Abandoned by Attachment

A place can exist as much in the mind as on the map. This series contains works on paper that explore this abstract concept of place in the framework of the geographic location known as Appalachia. The core of the imagery is derived from a proliferation of abandoned homes in rural southwestern Virginia. The series explores the point where preservation and attachment transform into neglect and abandonment.This intersection can be seen to mirror the collective circumstances of a place where growth has become synonymous with destruction. It is an expression of the ways in which myth can undermine reality and how history and the past can burden the present. Appalachia is a place inextricably caught at the intersection of myth and reality. Appalachia is an intuitive gut-feeling and profligate visual experience. Translations of such a place necessitate the inclusion of a visual approach. The high-touch approach of this work captures the fluid character of an impossibly present history.